ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The UC Santa Barbara Men's Basketball team (4-3) made the trip to Albuquerque for their third road trip of the season. This time, the Gauchos faced a tough opponent on a six-game winning streak in the New Mexico Lobos. UC Santa Barbara could not pull themselves out of their rut in the second half, resulting in an 84-61 loss for the Blue and Gold.
 
FROM HEAD COACH JOE PASTERNACK
"Full credit goes to New Mexico. They are a really good team that I think is a Top 25 basketball team. This was a great experience for our guys. We didn't have enough tonight. We can't turn the ball over 19 times and get out-rebounded 41 to 33. Those are the two keys for us as we move forward: cutting our turnovers down and winning the rebounding war."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Gauchos came out strong, starting this game with Yohan Traore and Ajay Mitchell securing the first two baskets to stay on pace with New Mexico. However, the passionate crowd in The Pit rallied behind their team, giving the Lobos momentum to gain a 10-point lead. This wouldn't keep the Gauchos down as they started to make a push, holding New Mexico to 16.7 percent from beyond the arc while rallying back to close the lead. By the time the first half was over, the Gauchos got within seven as these two teams went into the locker room with the Lobos up 42-35.
 
It was a very fiery start to the second half once the second half started with technical and offensive fouls flying. The technical fouls didn't keep the Lobos down as they went on a 6-0 run to grow their lead from halftime. Santa Barbara could not reciprocate, going on a scoring drought that lasted more than two minutes. Even after the Gauchos broke the dry spell, New Mexico responded back even stronger as they went on another scoring run. Mitchell's free throws put points on the board for the Blue and Gold, but it was not nearly enough. No matter what they tried, UC Santa Barbara could not get in a rhythm which resulted in the final score of 84-61 in favor of the Lobos.
 
LOOKING AT THE NUMBERS

• Ajay Mitchell led the Gauchos in points tonight, putting up 22. Of those points, 14 were free throws, which is a new career-high for the junior guard. To go along with that, he dished out the most assists with five, led the team in steals with two, and was tied for the most rebounds with five.
• Yohan Traore was the other Gaucho to finish with double-digit points. He followed close behind Mitchell with 18 points, making eight of his 12 shots from the field. Not only that, but he also contributed five rebounds.
• Ariel Bland tied his career-high in blocks with three while helping the team on the boards, grabbing four. Matija Belic also helped the team on defense by securing five rebounds. 

UP NEXT
The Gauchos will return to The Thunderdome this Saturday, Dec. 9, for their last non-division game of the season as they host Bethesda. Tip-off will be at 1 p.m. with a live stream available through ESPN+.